Leading shares are edging higher ahead of the Easter weekend but the recent strength in the oil price has hit airline shares.
With nuclear talks with Iran stretching into another day, the prospect of no agreement is keeping crude prices higher. If any deal is done it is likely to see Iranian oil flood onto a market which is already oversupplied, which would put pressure on the price. As it is Brent crude has edged up another 0.14% at $57.18.
So easyJet is down 31p at £18.41, while British Airways owner International Airlines Group has dipped 6p to 594p on concerns about rising fuel costs if the oil price continues to rise
The mining sector is also weaker, as iron ore hit new lows. BHP Billiton is down 25p at £14.45 and Rio Tinto has slipped 6.5p to 2755.5p.
But overall the FTSE 100 has added 10.48 points to 6819.98, despite data showing a slowdown in growth in Britain’s construction industry and continuing concerns about Greece’s
Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said:
It’s a relatively quiet start to the trading session in London which is probably to be expected as markets wind down ahead of the four day weekend.
Looking ahead, the domestic calendar is rather subdued, whilst the weekly jobless claims will be the big number to watch from the US. As the day progresses it would be of little surprise to find traders taking money off the table. There’s a lot of uncertainty still hanging over the market and with events including the US non farm payrolls [on Friday] and a meeting between Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Russia’s Vladimir Putin - which has the potential to see more political grandstanding from Greece – set to occur before markets reopen, there’s going to be a degree of risk mitigation in play. Thinner volumes could also exacerbate volatility but for now the FTSE-100 is looking relatively calm.
Marks & Spencer is leading the index higher, up 29p or 5.5% to a new seven year high of 559.5p after a rise in clothing sales.
Among the mid-caps BTG has jumped 31.5p to 769p after the drugs business raised its forecast for 204/15 revenues and forecast strong growth in the following year.
A report on the gaming sector has moved some of the shares involved. Betfair is down 67p to £21.74 as Exane BNP Paribas moved from outperform to underperform but Playtech has added as the bank lifted its price target by 11% to £10. Playtech also announced it would buy a majority stake in trading platform TradeFX for €208m.
